The Military Personnel Data System went offline on Monday as the Air Force Personnel Operations Agency began to upgrade and transfer airmen’s data to the Defense Information Systems Agency’s Defense Enterprise Computing Center, announced Air Force Personnel Center officials. The process is expected to take 23 days, states AFPC’s March 4 release. “MilPDS is an old platform that has not kept up with the times,” said Anthony Delgado, AFPOA’s MilPDS functional manager. He added, “Because systems changes over the years have been so significant, trying to maintain MilPDS in its current state is very risky—we could lose some irreplaceable data. The only viable solution is to bring the entire system down, fully upgrade everything so that it’s compatible with current technologies, and stand it all back up.” Delgado said critical personnel and pay processes related to accessions, reenlistments, Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve unit training assemblies, mobilizations, activations, casualties, and immediate separations will continue to function during the system downtime. MilPDS is the primary records database for personnel data and actions that occur throughout every airman’s career. (Randolph report by Debbie Gildea) (See also Act Before the Upgrade Starts.)
When Donald Trump begins his second term as president in January, national security law experts anticipate he may return to his old habit of issuing orders to the military via social media, a practice which could cause confusion in the ranks.